Blizzard Is Cracking Down On Cheating, Get The Details

As complicated as modern video games are, bugs and glitches are to be expected. Most of the time they're of no consequence, however, sometimes they break the game, and sometimes they allow players to cheat. Blizzard has a real problem with this last type. One of Overwatch's newest features, a soccer-like game mode called Lucioball was designed for players to only be able to use a single character, the one for which the game was named. However, a glitch in the matrix has allowed players to bring other characters into the game. Blizzard says they are working to address the problem, but until they do, people better not exploit the bug.

It's been several days since the bug was detected, but Blizzard has yet to do anything about it. As it turns out, there's something else going on which is preventing the fix. Game Director Jeff Kaplan took to the game's forum to address the issue, while also informing players that there will be consequences for anybody who takes advantage of the glitch before it's fixed.

Apologies for this bug. We've attempted to fix it numerous times and have had unrelated issues preventing the fix. We hope to have a fix this week. In the meantime, we are in discussions with our Customer Support group to start taking action against those deliberately using the bug to play heroes other than Lucio. Please do not exploit this bug. Fair warning.

The comments end there, so exactly what the punishment could be is anybody's guess. Game bans of some duration are certainly a possibility, as that is a common tactic taken against those who game the system in competitive online games. Most players won't ever discover that the ability to bring in other players exists, and regardless, the game mode wasn't designed to play as anybody else, meaning that the abilities of other players will have an impact on the game that was never intended. While the bug may seem like no big deal, it surely has a negative impact on those people playing against people who use the bug to their advantage.

Lucioball was part of a collection of updates brought to Overwatch as part of the Olympic games that are currently going on. The new mode will run through August 22nd, just after the end of the real-life games. Due to the limited nature of the release, one begins to wonder if the bug will be fixed in time or it to matter. In addition to Lucioball, the update provides new skins, taunts, and loot boxes as well.

What do you think the punishment should be for cheaters? Should they have their accounts suspended ? Going the other way, should they just open up the game mode to all characters and be done with it? Let us know what you think in the comments.